1. Field
Embodiments relate to methods of texturing and manufacturing a solar cell.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, as existing energy sources such as petroleum and coal are expected to be depleted, interests in alternative energy sources for replacing the existing energy sources are increasing. Among the alternative energy sources, a solar cell is a cell generating electric energy from solar energy and has been particularly spotlighted because the solar cell uses abundant solar energy, does not cause environmental pollution, and has a long life time.
The solar cell is divided into a silicon solar cell, a compound semiconductor solar cell, and a tandem solar cell, depending on a raw material. The silicon solar cell has been mainly used in a solar cell market.
A general silicon solar cell includes a substrate and an emitter layer formed of a semiconductor and having different conductive types such as a p-type and an n-type, and electrodes formed on the substrate and the emitter layer, respectively. At this time, a p-n junction is formed at an interface between the substrate and the emitter layer.
When light is incident on the solar cell, a plurality of pairs of electrons and holes are generated in the semiconductor. The pairs of electrons and holes are separated into electrons and holes by the photovoltaic effect, respectively, and the separated electrons and holes are called carriers. Thus, the separated electrons move toward the n-type semiconductor (ex. the emitter layer) and the separated holes move the p-type semiconductor (ex. the substrate), and then the electrodes and holes are collected by the electrodes electrically connected to the emitter layer and the substrate, respectively. The electrodes are connected to each other using electric wires to thereby obtain an electric power.
A reflectance of the incident light on the semiconductor needs to be reduced so as to improve a conversion efficiency of the solar cell for converting light energy into electric energy. For this, a method of texturing a surface of the semiconductor has been used.